A sense of FSBO pride as well as savings.
A FSBO, someone who has the fortitude and courage to sell his house For-Sale-By-Owner, generally has confidence. Sometimes they just exude confidence. Sometimes they are confident to point that when they discover something about the real estate world they had not yet been exposed to, they argue. They simply don’t know what they don’t know.
Some learn quickly, but some enter various stages of denial over some of the necessary paperwork, but, it all usually works out. There is much commission to be saved doing the work yourself. And in the end, the FSBO can, does, and should feel very good about themselves. FSBO pride is natural. But it’s not easily shared.
Enter the MLS agent
If you want to sell your house, you NEED to have it in the Multiple Listing Service. The MLS is like a big ol’ country club. It may have great food. It may have a championship golf course. But you can’t enjoy any of it unless you are a member or you are WITH a member.
You can’t enjoy the MLS unless you ARE a broker-member or you are WITH a broker-member. And if you are WITH a broker-member, you have an “agency” relationship. Maybe not the old-fashioned “exclusive right to sell,” list and move in together relationship, but maybe the newer “exclusive agency” team relationship, but there must be some kind of agency relationship. Otherwise, any broker could possibly list and put in the MLS 100 homes today, if we could just go through a phone book and not worry about having to have a pesky relationship with the sellers.
Definition of Agency
To have an agency relationship around here there must exist two forms signed by the seller and the member-broker. One is a Confirmation of Agency form, and the other is a listing/permission agreement spelling out what broker and seller will and won’t do, the length of time (expiration date,) the asking price, and the commission being offered to a cooperating MLS member-broker, expressed as a flat amount or a percentage of the GROSS sale price of the house.
Sometimes the FSBO thinks that since he sold his own house without an agent, he resents having to sign a form admitting there was an agent involved. But we have to observe state law and country club rules. Regardless of the level of real estate service you have used, you will still have to observe the rules. This is not optional.
Incidentally, there is a spectrum of real estate service that we will deal with later. There is full-service, limited-listing service, and MLS entry-only service. They each demand different levels of need and sophistication in home selling, It is important to know the difference, because one might seem like a great price, but then not include contract review, or selling help, which you assumed every agent would give you. Ask questions. Be clear. Try to anticipate your level of knowledge. Don’t be like two sellers I heard this week say, “Nobody told me about that! Is it too late to add that to the contract?”
Feature House – 3968 Kristen St. Spring Hill, TN 37174
3 bedroom, 2.5 bathrooms, 2393 sq ft – $229,900
Call me if you need to talk some real estate.
Don Martin , Martin Properties 615-973-8970